Parshat Chukat
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Bamidbar 21:5-8 contains what we might consider to be the
quickest sin, punishment, retribution, and repentant turnaround in all of the
Torah.
“The
people spoke out against God and Moses, 'Why did you take us out of Egypt to
die in the desert? There is no bread and no water! We are getting disgusted
with this wasteless/ insubstantial food.' God sent poisonous snakes against
the people, and when they began biting the people, a number of Israelites died.
The people came to Moses and said, 'We have sinned by speaking against God and
you. Pray to God, and have Him take the snakes away from us.'”
God then gives Moshe the
solution for those who have been bitten: a copper snake raised on a pole (one
international symbol for pharmacy), for people to gaze upon in order to be
healed (this is a simplistic understanding of how the snake “worked”).
Chasam Sofer asks, why now,
after 40 years in the wilderness, are the people complaining about the Manna?
To further his question, we can wonder how the new generation might be
expressing the sentiment that the manna doesn’t produce waste! If most of them
were born, and they all grew up in the wilderness, then this is the only
reality they know! How could they complain that the manna is just absorbed in
the body, if they’ve never experienced waste-producing food?
He suggests that once they
encountered other nations, and engaged with them in trade, they discovered the
foods the Edomites (and others) ate, and had their first major exposure to the
digestive system. However, the wheat they may have eaten did not produce waste,
so they felt the Manna had destroyed their bodies.
Rabbenu Bachaye notes that the
whole purpose of the Manna while they were traveling was to train them to have
trust and faith in God. The moment they spoke falsehoods about God, they were
punished with snakes, the symbol of speaking falsehoods (think Garden of Eden).
[He quotes the Medrash Tanchuma that the punishment of snakes is measure for
measure in a different way: the snake who eats anything and it all tastes the
same to him will come and punish those who complain about eating the one thing
that has many possible flavors.]
Rabbi Abraham Sabba (Tzror
Hamor) suggests that their immediate response to the snakes of “We have sinned”
brought immediate atonement for their sin. That God told Moshe to create a
“Saraph” (5:8), even though Moshe made a “Nachash” (5:9) (both words seem to
refer to a snake image) indicates that God’s intent was for the copper snake to
serve as a healer for their ailments of the soul (refuat ha’nefesh).
No matter what the copper snake
was meant to heal, and no matter the reason for the complaints at this time,
the fact remains that the whole ordeal seems to begin and end very quickly.
Even though the complaint about the Manna is understandable to us in 20/20
hindsight, the complaint about water makes no sense! Didn’t they see what just
happened a chapter ago when they complained about water?
Could it be that they’re
complaining about the new reality which will soon be upon them, that they’re
going to have to shlep water and actually work hard to get the food they need
once the Manna runs out and the well runs dry?
It’s hard to know, as the Torah
doesn’t give us much background to the complaining.
But one thing is clear. When the
guilty are punished with a swift retribution from God, without conversations or
confrontations, without raised voices and ire between sides, an understanding
is quickly reached.
Note how the Torah does not tell
us that their food situation or water situation changed or improved. The tale
concludes with the people owning up to their sin and with Moshe building the
copper snake to help heal those who were bitten.
Then they move on to their next
destination.
While I am not suggesting an
overhaul of the justice system in this country (though with DNA testing, we
often hear stories of innocent people sitting on death row for years), there
are times – such as in the recent horrific shooting in the Charleston, S.C
church, as well as other mass shootings in the country – where the perpetrator
is known, there are multiple witnesses, and the blood is on his hands, where
the swift punishment would drive the message home. A speedy trial without
lengthy deliberations, as necessary.
It worked in the Torah! For the
first time, the people immediately admit their guilt, and they don’t even get
what they want!
Alas, God is the only One Who
can be so sure. Until such a time when He chooses to punish accordingly again,
we can marvel at how quickly the lesson is learned, and hope that in our own
human way we can learn from His incredible example.
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